Journo Kajol denied bail yet again
A Dhaka court yesterday again refused to grant bail to photojournalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.
Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order after Kajol's lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua submitted an appeal against the lower court's rejection order.
On June 24, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Dhiman Chandra Mondol rejected Kajol's bail petition in the case.
During yesterday's hearing, the lawyer told the court that his client was very ill and one of his hands was paralysed, but bail was denied.
On August 10, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury ordered jail authorities to provide Kajol better treatment. But the jail authorities are yet to do so, his lawyer said.
Yesterday, Kajol was taken to the outdoor section of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital around 10:00am for a check-up but was whisked away without a "proper checkup", alleged his son Monorom Polok.
"My father was so sick that he was not able to walk. He had to be carried out of the prison van and then placed in a wheelchair. They stayed inside for about half an hour and he was carried out again," said Polok.
"We could not talk to him when he was being taken in -- we were being shooed away. We ran up to him when he was being taken out and only managed to talk for a second. He said his health is not good," said Polok, adding that Kajol is a cardiac patient.
Mahbubul Islam, jailer at Dhaka Central Jail, told The Daily Star that Kajol was taken to the hospital for a medical check-up so that they could present a report to the court.
Khurshid Alam, a doctor at Dhaka Central Jail, said Kajol is physically weak and is suffering from a lack of appetite and insomnia. He is also showing signs of being depression in addition to other health concerns, the doctor added.
Two other cases under the DSA were filed against Kajol on March 10 and 11 with Hazaribagh and Kamrangirchar police stations respectively.
Fifty-three days following his disappearance after leaving his office in Dhaka's Hatirpool, Kajol was found by Border Guard Bangladesh in Benapole on May 3.
He was then arrested, initially on charges of trespassing, but was granted bail after being produced before a Jashore court.
Later, he was shown held under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after police informed the court that three more cases against Kajol were pending with different police stations in the capital.
The court then sent him to Jashore Jail.
Comments